As the war enters its fifth terrible year, Ukrainian musicians continue to fight for freedom with music-making that is urgent and vital
I
t starts with a literal scream, a cry of pain from every player in the orchestra. The Ukrainian composer Anna Korsun’s piece Terricone is one of the most shattering creative acts of the war that began four years ago this month. Korsun was born in Donbas, where terricones, the slag heaps of the mining industry, bear witness to the way humankind has always reshaped the landscape. Her composition was premiered by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and its then chief conductor, the Ukrainian Kirill Karabits, at the start of 2023 – when news of the invasion brought worldwide shock and horror.
I’ll never forget being in Poole for that performance, as the vividness of it brought the fear and desolation of the emotional landscapes of the war to the audience. The Russian conductor Vladimir Jurowski – a vocal critic of Putin’s regime – brought the powerful piece to London last month, as part of a bold Ukrainian/Russian programme with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
The creative courage of Korsun is astounding but far from unique, as Ukrainian musicians and composers find ways of living and working through the war. Among other performances that brought the cultural realities of the conflict to the UK is Opera Aperta’s Chornobyldorf, which the Kyiv-based company staged at the Huddersfield contemporary music festival in November 2022. Part opera, part video-installation, a folk-punk ritual for a post-Soviet, post-nuclear age, the performance brought the seismic forces of Ukrainian history to life in a breathtaking and unforgettable event.
